Town · Chester County, South Carolina

Great Falls, South Carolina

Great Falls is a town in Chester County, South Carolina, part of the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area. It has 1,690 residents. Great Falls, South Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 8 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,410 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Carolina it ranks #217 of 268 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), home price to income ratio (low) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on median household income (low), access to exercise opportunities (low) and premature death (high).

8Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,410 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Carolina: #217 of 268 in SC
Population: 1,690 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 398.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 4530490

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety18#12,872/15,637
Economy16#13,093/15,631
Housing42#8,639/14,977
Health2#15,324/15,609
Healthcare5#14,887/15,650
Environment84#2,442/15,453
Education10#14,162/15,649
Infrastructure4#14,998/15,650
Community38#9,658/15,651
Leisure & amenities2#15,379/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Great Falls, South Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Chester County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Social associations · high16.8 /10k
95/100South Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChester County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.0×
88/100South Carolina 3.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100South Carolina 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChester County value
Comfortable days · high31.1%
83/100South Carolina 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationChester County value
Public EV charging ports · high10.3 /10k
82/100South Carolina 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyChester County value
Students per teacher · low12.1×
82/100South Carolina 13.8×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsChester County value

Weaknesses

Median household income · low$30,458
2/100South Carolina $72,507United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Access to exercise opportunities · low28.5%
2/100South Carolina 69.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChester County value
Premature death · high16,686 /100k
2/100South Carolina 10,517 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChester County value
Life expectancy · low69.8 yrs
2/100South Carolina 75.1 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChester County value
Firearm deaths · high31.0 /100k
2/100South Carolina 18.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataChester County value
Traffic deaths · high40.9 /100k
3/100South Carolina 20.5 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataChester County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,042 (2015-2019) → 1,690 (2020-2024)
−17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.6% (2015-2019) → 43.1% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
51.9% (2015-2019) → 70.1% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
47.7% (2015-2019) → 63.6% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.3× (2015-2019) → 2.0× (2020-2024)
+51%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
21.4% (2015-2019) → 11.8% (2020-2024)
−9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Great Falls, South Carolina improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+18 points51.9% → 70.1%

Declined1

Inequality+0.0830.451 → 0.534

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Great Falls, South Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.7 min2015-2019	34.3 min2020-2024	+5.6 min	Within the margin of error	8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.1%2015-2019	9.7%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Broadband subscriptions	51.9%2015-2019	70.1%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	87%
Child poverty rate	39.2%2015-2019	37.3%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Effective property tax rate	0.63%2015-2019	0.60%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	21%
High school diploma or higher	84.3%2015-2019	84.6%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Home price to income ratio	1.3×2015-2019	2.0×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	38%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4512015-2019	0.5342020-2024	+0.083	Declined	7%
Median household income	$41,8522015-2019	$30,4582020-2024	−27%	Within the margin of error	0%
Poverty rate	22.5%2015-2019	31.1%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	47.7%2015-2019	63.6%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	21.4%2015-2019	11.8%2020-2024	−9.6 points	Within the margin of error	96%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Great Falls, South Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Great Falls, South Carolina in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Great Falls, South Carolina itself moved −15.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,690 residents (±339)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

786 households (±112)

Great Falls, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $25k47%†367
$25k–50k20%†159
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

786 households (±112)

Great Falls, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Own82%645
Rent18%†141

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+10.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

595 workers (±157)

Great Falls, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Drive alone87%516
Carpool5.0%†30
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Chester County, the county holding most of Great Falls's residents.

Chester County has 560 employer establishments, 174 for every 10,000 residents (0.70× the US rate of 248; 0.76× South Carolina's), with 8,824 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,031. The Census Bureau also counts 2,061 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 560; 2,061 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 174; US 248 · South Carolina 228
Paid employees: 8,824
Average annual pay: $52,031; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Chester County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Religious organizations	51	15.8	2.85×More than typical	137	$18,613	—
Restaurants and other eating places	39	12.1	0.66×Fewer than typical	730	$16,023	22
Specialty trade contractors	31	9.6	0.62×Fewer than typical	184	$64,799	164
Gasoline stations	25	7.8	2.39×More than typical	146	$27,767	—
Ambulatory health care services	23	7.1	0.34×Fewer than typical	208	$54,918	66
Limited-service restaurants	23	7.1	0.89×About typical	552	$15,172	8
Services to buildings and dwellings	19	5.9	0.87×About typical	53	$42,415	219
Construction of buildings	16	5	0.66×Fewer than typical	40	$33,775	68
Truck transportation	16	5	0.98×About typical	56	$44,571	86
Full-service restaurants	14	4.3	0.57×Fewer than typical	171	$18,275	10
Automotive repair and maintenance	13	4	0.80×About typical	43	$43,000	53
General merchandise stores	13	4	2.28×More than typical	286	$30,024	14

Rank places for an industry Open Chester County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 32,227 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Great Falls is mostly in Chester County.

See federal money in Chester County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Great Falls, South Carolina is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Ralph NormanR-SC-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 11.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Chester County13100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC75

Other cities and towns in Chester County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4530490

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends